A Memorial Field master plan is moving forward with an updated scope of work that is expected to cost about $8.5 million less than the original proposal.
School board members Madeleine Mineau, Barbara Higgins and city councilor at-large Nathan Fennessy all voted to approve the $22.4 million plan on Thursday, while councilor Jeff Foote voted against it.
The crux of his disagreement with the master plan was the concern about noise and sound pollution given the plans to rebuild the multi-purpose stadium and track on the existing site. Foote said he would rather see the field rebuilt in a different location, even if it sacrificed a softball field to afford more space.
“I don’t think this plan is a good plan to be a good neighbor, just because we’re going to have more, it’s going to be used more,” Foote said. “The field itself is going to go from 700 hours a year to 2,200-2,500 hours a year.”
After recommendations were sent back to contractors in May, Eric Gerade of VHB and Chris Huntress of Huntress Associates returned to answer questions from the committee.
The “New Option A” returns to the committee’s roots and would keep many of the existing fields in place. Phase one was estimated to cost $13.9 million, including a 15% contingency for final design and permitting and 10% for the construction manager.
The second phase, which Parks and Recreation Director David Gill noted could be done farther down the line, was priced at $8.5 million. That second phase would include resurfacing the lower tennis and basketball courts and include a building to house bathrooms, concessions, lockers, equipment storage, official and coaches’ rooms.
Option A would rebuild a track and expand it, as well as include an artificial turf field in the middle to fit all sports, including lacrosse. The plan outlines a 1,000-1,500 seat bleacher section, too.
Elsewhere in the park, another grass or artificial turf field would be built where the existing soccer/lacrosse field is, with space for some bleachers and lights. Baseball and softball fields around the complex would also be improved.
A large portion of the costs were attributed to the need to dig up the site and completely redo the drainage system underneath, the consultants said. However, rebuilding the stadium and other fields on top of their existing locations will save money.
“It’s always cheaper to build on your existing footprints,” said Huntress.
Mineau and Higgins wanted to move the plan forward to get sports back online at Memorial Field as soon as possible with construction of a new middle school eliminating field space on South Street.
As the Monitor reported during the past few months, the track was deemed unsafe for competition and recent demolition work led the school to decide to move football’s opening night off-site to Pembroke.
“The high school kids desperately want to be on their home field,” Higgins said, noting that the district purchased temporary bleachers to be used on site in the meantime.
Gill will present the committee’s proposed plan both to the city council and school board at their next meetings. The plan will also be subject to a public hearing at some point down the line, most likely in October or November.
Mineau noted that the school district never revoked its approval for $600,000 in funding for the design and permitting phase, split evenly between the school and city, so the ball will be in the city’s court to continue moving forward.
Huntress noted that it will take some time between design and permitting to begin work at the South Fruit Street site. Getting a track by next September would be aggressive, he said. Most likely, it will take around two years to complete the first phase.